Reuters reported that US Steel Corporation's underperforming Serbian unit would cut back to a four day working week for the majority of its workforce to reduce costs.

US Steel Serbia said it had decided to cut back to a four day week for most workers, who would receive 60% of pay for the fifth day.

Mr Nemanja Brkovic spokesman of US Steel Serbia said that "This action will help our Company to reduce costs in a fair and reasonable way and minimize the impact of the hard economic situation on the families of our workers. The new regime will enable the company to be flexible enough to meet the needs of our customers."

US Steel Corporation has blamed sluggish economic growth in the Balkan region and pressure from lower priced imports, resulting in weaker demand.

For the past five years, the steel plant in the Serbian city of Smederevo has been running far below its annual capacity of 2.4 million tonnes, but remains a major exporter and employer.

US Steel purchased Smederevo's bankrupt Sartid steel mill in 2003 for USD 33 million in one of the first major privatization deals after the ouster of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.